1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a shock absorbing structure for a vehicle, which includes a shock absorbing member supported on a shock absorbing member support bracket fixed onto a floor tunnel sandwiched between left and right front seats and in which the front seats are caused to interfere with the shock absorbing member to absorb collision energy at the time of a side collision of the vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Such a shock absorbing structure for a vehicle is known from Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2007-320348.
In this structure, a base portion (shock absorbing member support bracket) and a shock absorber (shock absorbing member) are arranged in a double-decker shape on an upper face of a floor tunnel of a vehicle. By providing higher strength to the upper shock absorber with which a seat interferes at the time of a side collision than to the lower base portion, shock absorbing effect is enhanced while reducing weight of the whole structure.
In this shock absorbing structure for a vehicle, a parking brake device is provided immediately in front of the shock absorbing member support bracket and the shock absorbing member. Therefore, brake cables extending from a brake lever to rear wheels interfere with the shock absorbing member support bracket. In this case, if an opening for allowing the brake cables to pass through is formed in the shock absorbing member support bracket, the strength of the shock absorbing member support bracket reduces and shock absorbing performance of the shock absorbing member support bracket and the shock absorbing member in total may be insufficient, even though the shock absorbing member has been made to have high strength.